Magor Marsh Reserve | |
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![]() Magor Marsh Nature Reserve in mid-May | |
Type | Nature Reserve |
Location | Monmouthshire |
Nearest city | Magor |
OS grid | ST 428 866 |
Coordinates | 51°34′34″N2°49′37″W / 51.576°N 2.827°W Coordinates: 51°34′34″N2°49′37″W / 51.576°N 2.827°W |
Area | 36 hectares (0.360 km2; 0.139 sq mi) |
Operated by | Gwent Wildlife Trust |
Hiking trails | The Dragonfly Trail and The Butterfly Trail |
Website | Gwent Wildlife Trust |
Magor Marsh is a 36-hectare (90-acre) wetland reserve, located on the Welsh side of the Severn Estuary. It is managed by the Gwent Wildlife Trust. It has a great variety of habitats, including damp hay meadows, sedge fen, reed bed, scrub and wet woodland. There are also numerous reens and a large pond.
Magor Marsh Nature Reserve is the richest site in Wales for wetland beetles and soldier-flies, and its pattern of drainage ditches and other features have remained unchanged since the 14th century.[ citation needed ]
In March 2020 the reserve was featured in the BBC One programme Countryfile . [1]
The soil of Magor Marsh is mostly peat with a depth of around 4.6 metres (15 ft). Beneath this is alluvium laid down by the Severn Estuary. The level of water must be kept near the surface to preserve the peat. [2]
There are two hay meadows in Magor Marsh, maintained using traditional methods. The meadows are grazed during autumn and winter. The hay crop is mown in mid-summer to provide winter feed. By late spring the fields are a mass of flowers. In the meadows are such species as lady's smock, ragged robin, [3] yellow flag, lesser spearwort and meadow thistle. The common species in the reeds are teasel, common reed, hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife. In the reen grow water horsetail, reedmace, marsh marigold and azure damselfly. Osier, crack willow and sallow are typical tree species in the wet woodland. [2]
Magor Marsh includes breeding grounds for common redshank and common snipe. Reed warbler, grasshopper warbler, cetti's warbler, reed bunting and chiffchaff also live in the reeds. In the pond are water rail, coot, grey heron, little grebe, moorhen, little egret, Eurasian teal, shoveler and kingfisher. [2] In the reen the most common species are grass snake, great silver beetle, smooth newt and otter. [2] The wet woodland typical has such species as great spotted woodpecker and musk beetle. Cuckoo can be heard in the summer. Osier, crack willow and sallow are typical species in the wet woodland. [2] In the meadows the common butterflies are orange tip and meadow brown. [2] [4] [5] [6] The reens provide a habitat for azure damselfly. In 2019 leaf mines and a larva of the marbled marble ( Celypha woodiana ) was found on mistletoe ( Viscum album ), this Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) species has a limited distribution in Britain and the 2019 record was the first confirmed for Wales. [7]
The European water vole can be found within the reserve. [3]
Strumpshaw Fen is a nature reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It is situated at Strumpshaw on the River Yare in the English county of Norfolk around 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Norwich. The Buckenham Marshes RSPB reserve borders the reserve to the east.
Savi's warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds in Europe and the western Palearctic. It is migratory, wintering in northern and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest marl lake system, straddling the Wiltshire–Gloucestershire border, northwest of Cricklade and south of Cirencester. The lakes were created in the second half of the 20th century by extraction of glacial Jurassic limestone gravel, which had eroded from the Cotswold Hills, and these filled naturally after working began to cease in the early 1970s.
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions, and estuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As reed beds age, they build up a considerable litter layer that eventually rises above the water level and that ultimately provides opportunities for scrub or woodland invasion. Artificial reed beds are used to remove pollutants from grey water.
Magor - meaning 'a wall' - is a large village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about 9 miles (14 km) west of Chepstow and about 9 miles (14 km) east of the city of Newport. It lies on the Caldicot Levels beside the Severn Estuary, and is in the community of Magor with Undy. Magor lies close to the M4 motorway. There is a nearby motorway service area sharing its name and it is within the commuter belts of Newport, Bristol and Cardiff.
Coombe Hill Canal lies in the Vale of Gloucester, south west England, north of Leigh and runs west 2.75 miles (4.43 km) from Coombe Hill Basin to the River Severn near Wainlode Hill. It opened in 1796 and closed 80 years later in 1876, after the only lock was damaged by flooding. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust purchased the Coombe Hill Canal nature reserve in 1985 and the area is managed by the trust. Adjacent to the Coombe Hill Canal is a large area of wet meadowland situated midway between Gloucester and Tewkesbury to the west of the A38, which was purchased by the trust in 1999. There is a north and a south meadow. This land and the Canal itself often flood in winter, which attracts hundreds of wildfowl.
Goldcliff is a village, parish and community to the south east of the city of Newport in South Wales. It lies within the Newport city boundaries in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Administratively, the community of Goldcliff includes the village/parish of Whitson. The population in 2001 was 233; by 2011 it had risen to 329.
The Caldicot and Wentloog Levels are two areas of low-lying estuarine alluvial wetland and intertidal mudflats adjoining the north bank of the Severn Estuary, either side of the River Usk estuary near Newport in south east Wales. They are also known collectively as the Monmouthshire Levels or Gwent Levels, and the name Wentloog is sometimes spelled Wentlooge in official publications.
Cors Caron is a raised bog in Ceredigion, Wales. Cors is the Welsh word for "bog": the site is also known as Tregaron Bog, being near the small town of Tregaron. Cors Caron covers an area of approximately 349 hectares. Cors Caron represents the most intact surviving example of a raised bog landscape in the United Kingdom. About 44 different species groups inhabit the area including various land and aquatic plants, fish, insects, crustaceans, lichen, fungi, terrestrial mammals and birds.
Ingrebourne Marshes are a 74.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve includes a small part of the SSSI west of the River Ingrebourne. The site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust
Winnall Moors is a 64-hectare (160-acre) nature reserve in Winchester in Hampshire. It is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Gwent Wildlife Trust (GWT) is a wildlife trust covering the area between the lower Wye and Rhymney rivers which forms the vice county of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is a registered charity and a member of the Wildlife Trusts Partnership.
Ham Wall is an English wetland National Nature Reserve (NNR) 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels. It is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Since the last Ice Age, decomposing plants in the marshes of the Brue valley in Somerset have accumulated as deep layers of peat that were commercially exploited on a large scale in the twentieth century. Consumer demand eventually declined, and in 1994 the landowners, Fisons, gave their old workings to what is now Natural England, who passed the management of the 260 hectares Ham Wall section to the RSPB.
Cefn Blaenau is a 23-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in a small upland valley in Carmarthen & Dinefwr, Wales. It was designated an SSSI in 1989 primarily for its flush and spring vegetation as well as the diverse mosaic of unimproved pasture, ‘ffridd’ land, marshy grassland, wet heath, acid grassland, broadleaved woodland, streams, and small rock outcrops. These habitats, which are well represented at this site, have been greatly reduced in north Carmarthenshire due to land improvement, agricultural intensification, and afforestation. Only about 140 hectares of flush and spring vegetation remain in the county.
Gosforth Nature Reserve is a wildlife haven in Tyne and Wear, England. It includes extensive woodland and wetland habitats and is managed by the Natural History Society of Northumbria. Access to the reserve is restricted to NHSN members and those in possession of a valid day pass. Dog walking and other recreational activities are not permitted on site. The reserve is part of Gosforth Park, the old estate of Gosforth House.
Old River Severn, Upper Lode is a 3.72-hectare (9.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985. It is a cross county border site between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Mythe Railway Nature Reserve is a 2.8-hectare (6.9-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire. The site is listed in the ‘Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011’, adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation',' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Englemere Pond is a 26.1-hectare (64-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of North Ascot in Berkshire. The site is also a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by Bracknell Forest Borough Council.
The Avalon Marshes Partnership is a group of conservation organisations working together in the Somerset Levels. The members are Natural England,, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Somerset Wildlife Trust the Hawk and Owl Trust, Historic England, South West Heritage Trust and the Environment Agency. Between 2012 and 2016 the scheme was supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1,772,500 with additional investment of £920,080 from other sources. The Avalon Marshes Centre, run by Natural England, is near the Ham Wall reserve. The network of reserves and private land managed for conservation in the Avalon marshes means that wetland management can be carried out on a landscape scale.